Let me call you sweetheart...

[scotch_egg]

Who: Alec & You
What: Valentines Event
Where: Anywhere
Warnings: Who knows



Alec cam be found anywhere, looking more cagey than usual. Find him in his office filling out endless forms or answering calls curtly, or in a bistro or cafe with a single cup of steaming tea, or even in the park bundled up against the cold day.

More to the point he has a box of Valentine's Day candies with him that he cannot seem to stop eating. It seems almost unconscious. However this meeting turns out is going to be an interesting ride.


[[ooc: feel free to chose the words of the heart that he eats and put it in the subject. Or leave it up to RNG]]

Comments

[not_as_i_do]

It's a frigid day, the temperature dropping close to the zero mark ... and the wind makes it seem even colder. Martin is on his way back to the office from a private client call, when the sight of the cozy little cafe and its amber lighting draws him away from his route to the subway. Bundled in a camel-colored wool coat, a deep red scarf wrapped around his throat, he pushes the door open and exhales the last of the chill from his lungs.

He takes his place in line, rubbing his hands together to warm them faster, and glances around idly as he waits his turn. Is that....

"Alec?"

[scotch_egg]

Bloody camel coat. It made Alec double take until he saw who it was. He sipped his tea and rested his chin on his fist, staring back out the window.

"Whitley."

That was all he was going to get-- the vague hint to go away.

[not_as_i_do]

It wasn't as though Fell had exclusive rights to a certain range of colors, after all. But at least the surliness confirmed that Martin hadn't mistaken Alec for his cousin.

Alec may have thought his tactic worked, but only as long as it took Martin to order his own cup of tea and get it in hand. Once that was accomplished, he strolled over to Alec's table. It had been a while since fate had shoved them together in his cabin, and he found himself hoping it was Alec's usual surliness and not any sort of remaining discomfort. But leading with asking after his ankle was bound to get him chewed out. He angled for another tactic.

"Not teaching, today, I see...?"

[scotch_egg]

He grunted. No one in his life has ever known or cared about a hint. He was used to it at this point.

"Not doing that anymore." And hadn't been for a while. Not that Whitley should be expected to know that. And since he was here anyway and there was no getting rid of him. "Alright?"

[not_as_i_do]

"No? You say that as though you don't miss it terribly." He sets his tea down on the table, but isn't so brash as to help himself to a chair just yet.

He considers giving him the standard 'just fine' sort of answer, but ... he draws in a slow breath and puts a hand to his sternum, wincing slightly. "Got a rather unpleasant, er, reminder of something the other day."

[scotch_egg]

"I wasn't any good at it." They were better off without him, really. He frowned as the doctor winced, putting a hand to his stomach, and wondered whether it was a bad memory or something he'd forgot he was allergic to. He was willing to be the former.

"Me too." He sighed and folded his arms on the table. "Want to talk about it?"

[not_as_i_do]

He wondered why, then, Alec had decided to teach at all, but decided it was a question to come back to. "You, too?"

At Alec's invitation, he does pull out a chair and settles in. There's no lid on his tea since he got it for here, and he watches it steam for a moment to spare Alec the awkwardness of staring at him while he gathers his thoughts and tries to figure out a way to say it...

"Remember when I told you I have a son? In these other memories?"

Randomize that heart~

[chenqing_player]

Wei Wuxian spotted the familiar man when he was walking past the cafe. So he didn't waste any time getting his own warm drink and sliding into the seat across from him with a grin.

"There is something oddly addicting about those little candies. They don't taste that good but once you start, you can't stop."

Re: Randomize that heart~

[scotch_egg]

"Wuxian." He didn't invite him but he didn't turn him away either. He sipped his tea and made a face.

"They taste like shit. I don't know why I can't stop. I've always hated these bloody things." He held a heart between his forefinger and thumb, rocking it absently. "Besides which there's something strange about them, I just can't put my finger on what."

[chenqing_player]

"If it is so strange, then maybe you should stop eating them. Besides, they have to taste even worse when washed down with tea."

What is so addicting about this candy that tastes like chalk? He'll never understand it. But he also has been drawn to eating them recently, but he was blaming it on the time of year.

"Or is what is written on them strange? Did you get a practical joke pack of them?"

[scotch_egg]

"No. This one says..." he smirked. "Hold My Hand." He popped it into his mouth and made a face. "Disgusting."

And then-- he caught sight of Wuxian's hands on the table and suddenly... wanted to ask, jokingly, like a loser, if he wanted-- The need to burned in his throat as if he'd drunk a tumbler of whiskey. But he fought it. He wouldn't make such an arse of himself. He refused.

"It's ridiculous." But his voice was rough.

[chenqing_player]

He laughs as he calls it disgusting and yet still eats the thing. They really are the weirdest candies. And yet he feels an odd desire to get some while he is out and about.

He catches the roughness in his voice and quirks his eyebrow, "What's so ridiculous? The fact you are still eating chalk?"

[scotch_egg]

"No." He finds his own hand on the table resting perilously close, almost as if he's reaching out. But he curls it into a fist and leans back, jaw tightening. "Anyway, forget it. I suppose you have plans for that blasted holiday that don't include bringing things back from the dead?"

RNG yourself a heart for this completely innocent phone call

[serpentinthegarden]

[ Rrrrr, RRRrrrrrr, Rrrrrrrrr
So the phone would chime in Alec's pocket until he got around to answering it. ]

Oi Alec, you were a cop on a past life, yeah? Just wondering... are Crime families still a thing?

[ He hasn't had much luck finding any of them. ]

riight

[scotch_egg]

It's not a past life. I don't want to talk about it. What are you looking for criminals for anyway? Or do I want to know? [he pops a lime colored candy in his mouth that reads 'purr fect'. Nearby someone begins to purr. He isn't sure who. This is the subway. Sure it was New York but there were standards]

Totally normal, nothing to see here

[serpentinthegarden]

I'm not looking for criminals! I might have been looking for the boss.

[ That was... purring? Anthony checked around his bench as if there might be one near him some where but there wasn't. ]

You have a cat?

absolutely

[scotch_egg]

Why? What the hell are you up to? [it's a sort of purred growl that comes out and he rubs his cheek against the nearby pole without seeming to notice.]

And no, not with me...

[serpentinthegarden]

Nothing bad.

[ Maybe, probably, depending on your point of view. Only now he was so distracted watching Alec that his shades actually slid partway down his nose in surprise. ]

Have you taken up pole dancing?? Oh! Don't tell me you've joined that new cat act at the Kennel Club?!? Ellie would flip!

[scotch_egg]

What? [and then he realizes what he's doing] Fuck! [he jerks his head away and rubs his cheek, hissing] I need a bloody bath. It's not me it's the candies. I can't stop fucking eating them.

RNG is the way to be

[phdmotherfucker]

Harleen hesitated after picking up her order from the counter. There was only one seat open in the cafe and as much as she hated sharing space with strangers, she hated working in her own drab tiny office space even more. After a few moments of dithering, she walked right up and went for it.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken? It's just, you don't seem to be waiting for anyone and there's no other open seats in here. I swear I won't try to make small talk."

[scotch_egg]

He didn't believe her. She was also stunning so he couldn't find words to speak the thoughts that were in his brain so he grunted a yes and sipped his tea and hoped to hell he didn't pawn another sweet into his mouth without noticing. Maybe if he stared out the window and refused to notice her nothing would happen.

[phdmotherfucker]

"Thanks." She grinned at him and took the empty seat across the small table. "I'm-- Right. I'm not talking."

She tucked her hair behind her ears, pulled a stack of papers from her tote bag, and settled in to read the latest research subject assessments.

[scotch_egg]

It was still awkward as hell. He couldn't just let her sit there in silence, could he? He wanted to let her sit there in silence. It would be better for everyone considered if he just let her sit there in silence. But some part of him after a moment was compelled to mutter:

"Crowley."

[phdmotherfucker]

He spent just a beat too long before replying for it to fit naturally into a conversational flow, so it took her a moment to realize he was speaking to her. And another moment of polite but confused staring for her to realize what he actually meant.

"Sorry, wha-- Oh. Harleen." She gave him another brief smile and held her papers in the awkward state between reading and setting them aside. "Did you... Did you want the small talk? Because I'm actually not very good at it. We already know what the weather is like."

[scotch_egg]

"Miserable." He agreed and tried not to make it sound like he thought she was, thought it may have come off like that.

"We don't have to." If she wanted to sit in very awkward silence he was probably better at that.